Better fitting side curtains

I wanted to share this with the other Vintage owners--also others with different brands of car owners may benefit.

My side curtains never did fit well. Too short to fit up into that space at the convert top ---they were just too short at the top and sides. At highway speed it was even worse because the curtains wanted to pull outwards making a poor fit even worse.

I don't know if it's other VS cars but it is with mine and it was never satisfactory.

I had an upholstry shop sew a strip around the existing windows about 1 1/2"-2" wide using the Stayfast material I got from VS. Also new piping around the mew edge. The difference is amazing--now the side curtains fit all the way into that space all around the window and at the front it is long enough to let rain stay outside where it belongs.
The door is still easy to open with the curtains in place ---meaning that the better fit doesn't interfere with opening the window. If you have to pay a toll, punch numbers in a keypad , etc, the curtains are easy to push out unlike a solid window that doesn't roll down.

I got this idea last year at Morro bay from Dusty Johnson. Thanks, Dusty!

Pictures would be great Jack !

Will do Alan. Thanks for the suggestion.

Jack:

Boy I could use some help on this. Thanks in advance for posting photos and any of the dimensions of the add on pieces. You'll be doing a real service to VS owners like me.

Again, thanks

Bob

Bob--I knew you had a Vwhen I read your post! I'll take some pictures today.

OK--here are some pictures of the side curtain mod.
You can order the Stayfast fabric and piping from Kirk at Vintage. I ordered way too much so be careful of this as it's not inexpensive.

The picture with the ruler and measuring ruler is the view from the outside of the passenger's side. You can see that 1 3/4 " was added to the top and the rear (left side of pix) took an additional 2 1/2".
Not very much was added to the front---mqybe 1/2" but the front of the window now stays inside the car rather than getting pulled out by the wind. (That was always a hassle!)

The other picture is looking at the passenger side curtain from inside
to show how much materialwas added to come up with the finished dimensions. The front of the window has that black and yellow clip on it.

The fabric was doubled to keep it stiff then the piping was sewn on.

Be aware that each window had different measurements and had to be measured separately to fit.

A furniture upholstret did the sewing for me using a template I made up using the existing side curtains and taped on cardboard to make the final pattern. The curtains go well into the sewed-in pocket rather than only 1/8"-1/2" in. I waited 4 years too long to do this mod and the difference is pretty dramatic as far as quietness inside the car with the windows. I haven't tried them in rain yet but expect to next week.

I highly reccomend this mod to anyone with similar "emergency" windows
that fit poorly and allow wind and water in. The improvement is significant.

Not to get you to work too hard today, Jack, but how do they look installed on the car?

Looks good Jack, now if the clear plastic was the size of the original side curtain it would increase visability.

Rich--there's no change in the appearance because the change is happening inside the pocket where the flap of the window always went.

From the inside there's a lot less daylight coming through tho. What surprised me was how quiet and "sealed up" youu feel when inside with the windows in. A real surprise.

Alan--absolutely right you are. The area of clear lastic should be a lot bigger but that was more than I wanted to tackle. I amost succeeded with a plexi window fab but mine still need R & D to be feasable. But when I had them in ---they were 100% window with nothing surrounding like the fabric on mine now---quite a difference.

Oh,for an IM with real windows. Marty is really starting to get on my nerves.

Jack,

Like I think Corry once said: you are a genius. I have this exact same issue, and also had the Eureka moment when I saw Dusty's fix at Morro bay last year. I figured I'd have to get new side curtains made from scratch, using a template that I would make from cardboard. In speaking to JPS, he says his canvas guy will not make custom side curtains, and that is that. So I figuired to try local shops and see what's what. adding a canvas extender piece like you have here would be the cheapest and very effective way to solve this problem. According to G. Nichols, if you add a bit of velcro in a few strategic places, you can get really pretty snug, and shed all the water to the outside. I gotta do this. And the all plexi side curtain idea is not off the table, but as you say, needs some careful fitment to make it work, and a special gasket plus peculiar cutting at the front for the windshield contour. Tricky business, that. As usual, your are an inspiration -- now it's time for the perspiration . . .

I never got the VS side windows - I have a CMC after all - So I went the route of modifying the top to fit what I had:

I found that you have to run another set of stitching about 1" in from the roof edge AND a snap tab attached to the roof material, just behind the rear top of the door and snapped to the rear flap snap, to pull the top material in closer to the window for a better seal. Here

Jack, they look great! I think they look more "vintage" than what you started with.
As far as the window, it's the same size as on the real deal.
Good job all the way around, dude!

Gordon----if I understand---you made the convertable top's slot that takes the top and sides of the window smaller to fit the existing window while I made the window larger to fit the existing slot. I think that's it---right? Both ways accomplish the same thing----a fit that won't flop around and let air and water in at speed. Now the rain will go directly from the side of the windshield and slide along the outside of the curtain staying out of the car, rather than pouring in between the edge of the windshield and the front edge of the window.

Terry and Kelly--all the kudos go to Dusty Johnson who showed me this fix at Morro Bay last year. Without that lesson I'd still be cussin'
the original curtains and adjusting them going 70 in the rain---not a very safe practice.

I imagine Vintage and JPS use the same window maker who cranks out the same dimensions for every window. Took me 3 years to understand that but better late than never.

Jack:

You're exactly right. You fixed the window and I fixed the top, both ending with the same result from different directions.

Actually, Kathy came up with my solution - seems only appropriate from a person who quilts (and is a great stitcher!!)

Jack and Gordon:

Thanks to both of you for presenting answers to the problem. One of my 10 year old twins and I experienced the effectiveness of the "emergency" top and side curtains recently.

Should have had snorkels in the car for both of us. Still, fun!

Now I 'm headed for my upholstery guy next week to decide which way we go.

Again, thanks, gentlemen!

Bob

Bear in mind, folks, that there is a LOT of difference between CMC side windows and VS side windows.

The CMC version does NOT have a cloth border around it at all. For that reason alone, I chose to go the "fix-the-top" route. I honestly can't say which side window is better, they both do the job, both have different good and bad points and both need modifications of some sort to make them seal properly (or, sometimes, seal at all!) so Jack's approach, for VS-style windows, makes a lot of sense.

In the end, once you get the top and side windows sealed, you'll most likely find leakage from somewhere else. It sometimes seems like a never ending process - find the leak and stop it, then find the next and stop THAT and on and on....Eventually the process slows, but it takes a while to get there.

This is the best on-SOC shot I have of CMC windows, and mine are somewhat modified, even from the CMC standard:

Has anyone done a zippered curtain?

My curtains are zipped in on the Spyder. The plastic windows are pretty small. The rear window drops too, just don't go over 50 mph when it's dropped. The top REALLY wants to blow off the car then!